Thermostatic device



H. LC. WELLS. THERMOSTATIC DEVICE. APPLlc/mou man SEPT 2011919.

' 'f PatendSept. 27, 1921.

l Inventor .4Q/w TC, M

1 Attorney Si* UNITED STATES PATENT orifice.' 1`

maar J. o. WELLS, or; NEW Yom;A n.1.

Tnmurosu'rxc nnvron Anuman ica septembr zo, isis. serial To all it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Hniiinirr J. C. WELLS, a subject of the King of\Great Britain, re-

`siding at New York, in theeoiinty and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermostatic De.

vices, of which the following is a full, clear,

' and exact description.

medium, the temperature of which it was proposed to control. In contradistinction to this, by my present invention,` the medium to be controlled, passes through "or is surrounded by the expansible controlling me-l dium, by which means a more sensitive con trol is provided for, and a better contact for heat absorption insured.

In carrying out my invention, I use two substantially parallel concentrically arrangedltubes, joined at their ends, to form between them an intermediate space in which is contained an expansible fluid. This constitutes a thermostat proper, and the arrangement is preferably such that the medium, the temperature of which is to be controlled, enters, passes or flows through the inner tube, so that the expansible fluid between the walls of the two tubes absorbs heat from thesa-id controlled medium, or conversely gives up its heat to such medium,t

e thereby increasing or diminishing the pressure within the inclosed space in which such fluid is contained. To realize the advantages of this invention to the full, I employ in connection and in direc communication with the inclosed thermost tic chamber, a

`receptacle or chamber vco aining aI dia.-

phragm with whilris -opqrativel connected a controllingfyalve, lever or ot er similar device. A//

Thedetails of the apparatus thus generally described are ,of little moment provided they be s'uchf' as to `secure, the relations andthe 'mode-'ofwoperation above set f orth. In the accompanying drawing I have illus- Specincation oflLetters Intent. A

Patented sept.. '227, i921. m. ssaosi. l

trated thel improvement in its ,most prac- I ticable and preferred form, such drawing.-

being a sectional view of the apparatus on a somewhatl enlarged scale.

The device comprises an outer tube l,

the ends` of which are in any proper manner connected up witlriflpipe or tube 2through which flowsthe fluid or medium to be controlled. Within the tube 1 is a second tube 3 of high heat conductivity and preferably composed of corrugated sheet metal, the

ends of which are properly secured to the ends :of pipe 2 so as to form 'a closed annular space between the said inner and outer tubes. This space is filled with any'suitable eX ansible fluid 4. 4

ommunicating with this annular space is a chamber, of any proper character 5,

preferably a tube with its loweror free end. closed` and having united thereto a sheetmetal cylindrical and corrugated tube 6 closed at its upper or free end and constituting an expansible diaphragm. 4To the end or head 7 of this tube is connected a rod 8 which passes through the closed end ofthe tube 5 and is connected with a valve 9 in a pipe 10, or toan'y other regulating or controlling deviceas the case may be.

The temperature of the expansible fluid 4,

and that of a medium flowing through the pipe 2, tend with great sensitiveness to approximate and the interchange of heat is Very rapid, so that, for example, if the tem perature of the medium in pipe 2 rises, the expansible fluid quickly absorbs heat and expands. This expansion, communicated to the diaphragm chamber, exerts on the latter a pressure that contracts it, and thereby operates to close the valve 9 and so permit, in this case, a diminished flow of the heating medium to a hot water heater, which perso f" mit's the lowering of the temperature of the medium in pipe As a means of regulating the action of the thermostat, I have showna tube 11, the o posite ends of which are connected to t e annular chamber containing the expansible fluid. This tube 11 contains a diaphragm `preferably of the same character as that above described, but the rod l2 -connected with the head 13 is seated on a-spiral spring 14, adj'ustable in position vby means of which the opposition to the longitudinal movement of the rod under the pressure created in the tube by expansion of the -luid 4 -ma be regulated and controlled- By means. o this vioo device the aggregate capacity'of the chamber containing the expansible Huid is regulated as need may be.

This device has many uses. F or example, it may be employed to control the supply of eoolingwater to the jackets of gas or oil engines, or, in general, to regulate the supply ofv either a cooling or a heating medium to any other form or kind of apparatus that may require it.

What-I claim as my invention is:

1. A temperature controller having a plurality of chambers, one of which surrounds and is separated from the other by a wall of high heat conductivity in combination with means for conveying to and from the inner chamber fluid whose temperature is to be controlled, a regulating device operatively connected tov the outer chamber to be controlled by the change in volume of liquid in said outer chamber, and adjustable means for varying the volume of said outer chamber to select the temperature at which said regulating device responds.

2. The combination in a temperature controller of two concentric tubes, the inner tube being corrugated to increase the exposed Surface, said tubes formlng a closed annular space which is filled with an expansible medium, of means operated by the expansion and contraction ot' said mediumvfor actuating a' regulating device, and means for passing through the inner corrugated tube the medium of which the temperature is to be controlled.

3.. A thermostatic temperature controller comprising in combination two concentrically arranged tubes, the inner tube being corrugated and ot' a high heat conductive Inaterial, said tubes forming an intermediate chamber, thc inner tube forming a passage for a medium of which the tempera-ture is to be controlled, and the intermediate chamber containing the expansible fluid, the variations in` pressure of which are utilized for purposes of regulation. j l,

-In testimony whereof I hereunto alix my signature. A

H. J. C. WELLS. 

